One in ten homeowners in the UK admit they have regrets about the property purchase, new research from Ocean Finance reveals.
The top reason for regret, stated by 28 per cent of the survey respondents, was that they rushed into it.
One fifth of the people said they regret the purchase because they do not like their neighbours and 16 per cent complained the place is not big enough.
There is a considerable variation in the results depending on the age of the respondents with the proportion of younger people regretting a buy being more than four times higher than that of older ones. Just 5 per cent of the respondents aged 55+ said they were not happy with the purchase of their home against 23 per cent of respondents aged 25 to 34.
Although 90 per cent of people are happy to have made the investment in an own property, the majority of them do not like where they live.
More than half (57 per cent) of the people who said they do not regret buying their home, said they dislike some aspect of their place of residence.
Top reasons for dissatisfaction are that the place is too small (28 per cent), it needs too much work doing (21 per cent) and it is too cold (17 per cent).
“The key lesson from our survey is to spend more time choosing a house before you buy. Getting to know the area and the neighbours before committing is really important, as is making an honest assessment about the amount of work that the property needs, how big it is and whether it will suit you not just now, but as your family grows,” Ocean’s Ian Williams, comments.
Top reasons to regret a house purchase:
| I rushed into it |
28% |
| I don’t like my neighbours |
20% |
| It’s not big enough |
16% |
| It needs more working doing to it than I realised |
12% |
| I can’t really afford my mortgage |
6% |
| I’d make a loss if I sold it |
6% |
| I wasn’t ready for the responsibility of buying |
2% |
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Top reasons to dislike the home you are living in:
| It’s too small |
28% |
| It needs too much work doing |
21% |
| It’s too cold |
17% |
| I don’t like the area |
14% |
| There’s not enough outside space |
12% |
